Consumer batteries are commonly sold in blister card packages hung from display rods located near the point of purchase. An important function of the clear plastic blister which is affixed to the blister card and contains the batteries is to allow individual visual display of the batteries contained therein. The most appealing and informative information concerning the battery is normally printed on the battery itself. This display material on the battery identifies the brand and the type of the battery. In order that the information printed on the battery may be readily seen by the consumer, the rotation of the batteries within the package must be prevented between the time of manufacturing when the batteries are oriented within the blister for viewing by the consumer and the sale of the batteries. Thus the orientation set at the factory must be preserved by the plastic blister. This anti-rotation feature of the plastic blister is normally achieved by protrusions which engage the top and bottom of the battery. These protrusions normally engage a single feature on each end of the battery, and are thus battery specific.
Batteries of a standard cell size, such as a "D" size battery, may have a range of dimensions both in length, diameter, and the positive terminal nubbin diameter. A standard "D" cell may employ one of several different chemistries. These chemistries provide batteries of different total energy content with different costs that generally correspond to the energy content of the battery. Different chemistries involved in modern batteries result in radically different structures internal to a battery, yet externally the batteries appear, and for most purposes are, interchangeable. The differences of internal battery structure and energy content are what cause the minor differences in battery geometry. These geometric differences are normally accommodated in battery-using devices by spring-loaded contacts which accommodate themselves to the range of battery configurations allowed within the industry standard for a consumer battery.
In order to prevent rotation of a particular battery, the blister must engage the battery. Design optimization has resulted in blisters with protrusions which grip a unique feature or dimension of a particular type of standard cell. Thus, the typical blister designed to work with a common zinc "D" cell will not properly accommodate or prevent the rotation of a heavy duty alkaline "D" battery.
Heretofore, the requirement of a unique blister for each type of "D" or "C" cell has been generally accepted as a given of consumer batter production. Batteries are commodities of mass consumption and the economies of scale with each battery type is such that little attention was directed to the requirement of a different blister package for each battery type.
However, in recent years, new management and manufacturing philosophies originating in the United States, but first widely put into practice in Japan, have focused attention on new ways to improve quality and decrease cost in the manufacturing process. These new manufacturing techniques involve controlling inventory at all stages of the manufacturing process through close coordination with suppliers. The new manufacturing techniques also involve the rapid change over of tooling so that many products may be manufactured on a single line. The result of these techniques has been lower costs through reduced inventory and improved quality through more timely feedback of quality problems through the manufacturing chain.
What is needed is a blister package for the display of batteries which can contribute to lower blister inventory and reduce change-over times on battery manufacture and packaging lines.